EUGENE, Ore. — Witnesses say a man is dead after a freight train hit him in Eugene Monday afternoon.

Investigators think the man put his head on the tracks before the train rolled by.

Eugene police say the train hit the man while it was traveling eastbound at the intersection of West 3rd Avenue and Washington Street at about 1:45 p.m.

At this point, officers are treating this as a death investigation until they find out more about what happened. They haven’t confirmed the man’s identity yet. But from what they have gathered from witnesses, a man in about his 50s put his head on the tracks. They say the train killed him instantly.

The train was not at the scene about 20 minutes after the incident.

“Train companies have a standard protocol in train vs. pedestrian incidents and we will be following up with the train company if we need to,” said Lt. Doug Mozan, Eugene Police.

Eugene police could not confirm whether the train operators saw the man and tried to stop before hitting him, but they say it did stop afterward.

Investigators believe the man was alone, but they’re still investigating.